LETTER TO THE HONORABLE SAM J. ERVIN, JR., CHAIRMAN FROM W. E. COLBY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75B00380R000500370018-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2001
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: February 4, 1974
• Content Type: LETTER

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Honorable Sam J. Ervin, Jr., Chairman
Senate Committee on Government Operations
United States Senate
Washington, D. C. Z0510
Dear Chairman Ervin:
This is in reply to your letter dated 11 May 1973, requesting
our views concerning S. 1726, which establishes guidelines and
limitations for the classification of information and the disclosure of
such information to the Congress and the public.
S. 1726 establishes a statutory program for the classification,
declassification, and protection of Government information by, amending
the Freedom of Information Act. All classified information, including
intelligence sources and methods, would be affected. The only
exception is Atomic Energy Restricted Data which, under Section 105,
is expressly excluded from the provisions of the bill.
The Central Intelligence Agency clearly recognizes that all
elements of our Government and the electorate must be adequately
informed on matters of national importance. Indeed, the CIA was
created to fill a critical information void and we have strived to meet
our obligations within existing law and established procedures.
However, there are certain considerations
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that must be borne in mind. The role of CIA is to provide
foreign intelligence support to the President and the National
Security Council by assuring a coordinated effective
collection and analysis program of foreign intelligence in Government
for timely dissemination to the policy makers. The success of the
program is dependent upon productive sources and effective methods of
collection and analysis which meet national requirements. If security
is not properly regarded and sources and methods are revealed, the
foreign intelligence collection effort would be critically affected.
This was recognized by the Congress in the National Security Act of 1947,
as amended, (50 U. S. C. A. 403), Section 102(d)(3), which provides as follows:
" ... And provided further, That the Director of
Central Intelligence shall be responsible for protecting
intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized
disclosure. It
The Agency, under the present Freedom of Information Act,
has established a program to handle outside requests for information.
Disclosures under the Act, however, have admittedly been extremely
limited because of the necessity to protect intelligence sources and methods
and other considerations affecting Agency operations. The passage of
time alone for declassification does not provide adequate protection.
Each item must be carefully reviewed. Disclosures of information
revealing past activities can well jeopardize present and future operations
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and individuals. This review, therefore, is extensive and includes all-
related and corollary information affected by the disclosure.
The existing Freedom of Information Act provides protection to
intelligence sources and methods by expressly exempting classified
information from requests for declassification. We question whether
S. 1726, by establishing a much broadened extensive program of
declassification and dis'semination, accomplishes these ends consistent
with the protection of the information involved.
Section 104 provides for the automatic declassification of
information unless the President or agency head personally justifies,
in writing, that the information requires continued protection. The
justification is not delegable and must be submitted to the Comptroller
General and to the Government Operations Committeesof House and
Senate for review by any member or committee of Congress. No
classified information may be withheld from any member or committee
of Congress. Any person may bring court action and require a court
review de novo of the sufficiency of the classification of any material
deferred from declassification. Noncompliance with a court order subjects
an agency head to contempt.
The above provisions in Section 104 clearly conflict with the
statutory responsibility of the Director of Central Intelligence to protect
intelligence sources and methods and raise our strong objection to
S. 1726. The Director could be faced with a court order to declassify
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intelligence overriding his determination that disclosure would reveal
sources and methods. Regardless of the outcome of, the court action,
sensitive information would be disclosed in open court. Also, anyone
can petition court action to force disclosure of any classified information
w ithout showing any interest; whereas, the Government is forced to prove
a national interest to protect the information involved.
There are other provisions in Section 104 of S. 1726 which also
raise serious problems for this Agency. The more significant are:
a. The authority granted to the Comptroller General to
oversee the protection of information in Government;
investigate allegations of improper classification; and inspect
Agency classification programs can conflict with the
Director's statutory responsibilities.
b. It is impossible for the Director to review personally
the countless hundreds of thousands of documents spanning
a period of twenty-five years for purposes of declassification;
however, the review is vital and cannot be waived.
C. The requirement to furnish quarterly to the Comptroller
General and upon request to any member or committee of
Congress the names and addresses of all persons who'
have authority to classify information is in conflict with
Section 6 of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949
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(50 U. S. C. A. 403g) which exempts the Agency from the
provisions of any law requiring the disclosure of
the names of any of its employees.
d. The one designation "Secret Defense Data" by not
recognizing any varying degrees of sensitivity will not
provide adequate protection to the most sensitive information.
A clearly recognized and understood classification such as
"Top Secret" not only provides ready identification but assures
proper protective handling.
For the above reasons, this Agency strongly opposes
We offer no comments on other sections of the
bill except to note that Title V - COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA PRIVILEGE
would protect the identity of all persons furnishing any .information to the media,
including the foreign press, regardless of any indications of criminality
in the acquisition of the information involved.
The Office of Management and Budget advises there
is no objection to the submission of this report from the standpoint
of the Administration's program.
Sincerely,
W. E. Colby
Director
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